The heartbroken family of a murdered Hollywood Police officer gave emotional statements Thursday at the death penalty trial of the man who pleaded guilty to the killing.
Jason Banegas, 22, pleaded guilty in October to 10 different charges including first-degree murder in the October 2021 killing of Officer Yandy Chirino.
Jurors are trying to decide whether Banegas should be sentenced to death in the killing and on Thursday heard from Chirino’s grief-stricken family.
His sister, Yaily Chirino, could only introduce herself before she broke down into tears, and a family advocate had to share her statement about her brother.
“Not a day passes without weight of his memory. We wake up with grief, go through our days with disbelief and fall asleep with a pain that feels endless,” she said in the statement. “We have lived with sleepless nights, fear, anxiety and a profound disparity, knowing that we will never again hear his voice, see his smile or feel his embrace.”
Chirino’s mother and sister held each other and his father looked on as they conveyed how devastating his death has been on the lives and the community.
And Chirino’s girlfriend at the time, Chelsea Howell, shared her message through tears and addressed Banegas directly.
“Right before he encountered you, he was home with me, excited to head to work. Joking, laughing, being his goofy self,” she said. “I never imagined that could be the last moment I would ever share with him, this isn’t a pain I will move on from. I will carry this loss with me forever.”
Officials said the 28-year-old Chirino had responded to a possible burglary call when he was shot during an altercation with Banegas.
Chirino, who’d been with the department since 2017, was the first Hollywood officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty since 1982.
Originally from Cuba, Chirino came to Florida when he was 10 and graduated from Florida International University.
After the impact statements, prosecutors rested their case. The defense will present their case on Monday.
Banegas, who sat motionless in court, could face the death penalty in the shooting. If the jury doesn’t recommend death, he’ll serve life in prison without parole.
Florida law requires 8 out of 12 jurors to recommend the death penalty.
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